Mix-and-Match

Komako Sakai

Komako Sakai

You know how, on that show Say Yes to the Dress, the really demanding brides want the top from one dress and the skirt from another?  Well, that's how I feel about The Velveteen Rabbit.  I want the original, unabridged text (I always do), but with the luminous illustrations from Komako Sakai's picture book version. I love how she never shows the faces of the adults in her illustrations.  In the original, we never even see the boy!

Original illustration

Komako Sakai

Just compare the scenes where the Velveteen Rabbit sees the real rabbits for the first time.  What a difference!

Apparently there's a third, new version, with illustrations by Charles Santore, but unfortunately it's not available at my library, so I can't comment on it.  Has anyone seen it?

In any version, however, this classic story of "how toys become real," as the subtitle says, is still a great (and quick) read-aloud.

Are there any books you'd like to mix-and-match? Perhaps a classic you'd like to see newly illustrated?